Saturday, October 15, 2011

Weekly Roundup

As predicted, the US House of Representatives has passed HR 358, otherwise known as the "Protect Life Act," otherwise known as the bill that would allow hospitals to let women to die rather than perform a life-saving abortion. Every single Republican in the House supported the measure, and 11 Democrats crossed the aisle to join their life-protecting brethren. USA! USA! USA!

Last month, a Time Warner Cable customer service rep died at her desk. After any unexpected death, people searched for answers, explanations, someone to blame. But in this case, there may have actually been something foul afoot. A local news station reports that after a co-worker began giving CPR to 67-year-old Julia Nelson, a supervisor allegedly told her to stop and "get back on the phone and take care of customers."

When SimCity's core said "Hey, that sounds familiar," the Huffington Post's Amanda Terkel went digging for answers. The provenance of Cain's proposal is unknown; it's said to come from Rich Lowrie, an economic advisor to Cain. He didn't comment, and his receptionist said he's not much of a gamer.

"In the ten months since the FINAL FANTASY XIV team's restructuring, we have put forth the utmost effort into not only improving the game's existing features, but also creating a concrete plan to outline the game's new direction," Wada stated. "Today, I am pleased to announce we can confidently present that plan to our customers. We fully realize this is but a single step towards our ultimate goal, and that to meet the high standards set in the plan, more time is required. In the meantime, however, we will not waver in our commitment to bringing players exciting and engaging content, even as the game moves through its evolution."

Yesterday, US District Court Judge Vaughn Walker helped us move the rights needle a little further toward that future. In a heavily disputed decision, Walker overturned the barbarous Proposition 8 on the grounds it was unconstitutional under California law. His ruling was unequivocal and exhaustive: same-sex marriage is and should be equal to opposite-sex marriage. No doubt the case will move to the Supreme Court, where Obama and Congress’ collective feet-dragging on DOMA and DADT will finally be confronted. Until then, same-sex marriage is forbidden in most states in the USA and, regardless of the Supreme Court decision, will remain so in most countries in the world.

Bisexuals who end up in opposite-gender relationships, of course, can blend in with the straight community fairly easily. However, that ability to easily blend in comes at a price: Those individuals can feel like they've lost some of their "queerness" and their ties to the LGBT community.

I have also gone through and reread conversations with loved ones when I miss them. Nearly four years later, I sometimes type his email address in the search box in my Gmail. Hundreds of results pop up, and I’ll pick a few at random to read. The ease of our everyday interactions is what kills me. The way we spoke to each other about what I’d bring home for dinner or whether it was a PBR or a Grolsch kind of night. In nearly every conversation, there is something that releases the pressure from my chest by forcing a giant laugh.